LDS Suit Nearing Settlement

Salt Lake Tribune/December 1, 2000
By Ray Rivera

Two longtime LDS Church critics who posted part of a handbook for
Mormon
clergy on the Internet agreed to a settlement offer Thursday in a
federal
copyright lawsuit filed against them.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, however, appeared
hesitant to sign off on the deal, even though church attorneys drafted
the
offer.
"The church has not yet signed an agreement, but we are hopeful
that a
settlement is at hand," church spokesman Dale Bills said in a
statement.

Under the tentative settlement, ex-Mormons Jerald and Sandra
Tanner, who
have spent nearly four decades in the critical study of Mormonism
through
their Salt Lake-based Utah Lighthouse Ministry, agreed to destroy
copies of
the handbook.
The couple also agreed to remove links to or any mention of
Internet
sites carrying the Church Handbook of Instruction.
In exchange, the church will drop its claims for damages and
attorneys
fees.

At a news conference Thursday outside their small ministry on West
Temple, the Tanners insisted they did not violate copyright law.
"We have entered into this settlement only to end unnecessary,
prolonged
and expensive litigation," Jerald Tanner said.
Added his wife: "Our resources are better spent for their intended
purpose: to examine the claims of the LDS Church and contrast those
teachings with Christianity."

Bills said in a statement the church remained firm "in its position
--
as recognized by the federal court -- that the Tanners illegally
published
church copyrighted materials."

The dispute began in July 1999, when the Tanners posted on their
Web
site 17 pages of the handbook, a chapter dealing with church
disciplinary
procedures. The closely guarded tome is not available to the public or
general church membership.

The church, through its Intellectual Reserve Inc., that holds the
rights
to its intellectual property, sued the Tanners three months later,
alleging
copyright infringement.

The couple, faced with a temporary restraining order issued by U.S.
District Judge Tena Campbell, removed the pages. However, they later
posted
an e-mail message from a reader containing Internet addresses where the
entire handbook could be viewed.

The church asked Campbell to order the couple to remove the
addresses on
the theory they were encouraging others to view and make illegal copies
of
the handbook pages. Campbell ordered the addresses taken down.

The decision, which the Tanners were appealing in the U.S. 10th
Circuit
Court of Appeals, sent a shock wave through the Internet community.
Free-speech advocates and cybergroups, including the San
Francisco-based
Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the ruling threatened the free
exchange
of ideas and information on the global Internet.

"Judge Campbell's decision we think was a mistake and could have a
broad
influence on the Internet, but the Tanners' goal was not to make
Internet
law but to continue their ministry," said Brian Barnard, the couple's
attorney.
The issue, however, appears to remain in dispute.

The settlement agreement stipulates that "the temporary restraining
orders and the preliminary injunction entered in this action are
dissolved,
withdrawn and vacated."

Barnard said that provision, if Campbell agrees to it, would
withdraw
her opinion restricting the posting of the Internet addresses.
"That opinion is going to have a devastating effect on the
Internet, so
we want to get it off the books," Barnard said, adding that Campbell's
ruling has already been cited in the Napster copyright lawsuit.

But the church specifically said in its statement that "any
agreement
must include a continuation of the injunction against ULM that
prohibits
unauthorized copy- righted materials produced by the church."

The issue may be a simple matter of confusion. Bills said the
statement
referred to a permanent injunction that would be put in place (as
opposed to
continued) by the agreement. The Tanners remained critical of the
church for
targeting them and not going after other sites carrying the handbook or
links to it.

"The Salt Lake Tribune printed the URLs of Web sites which
contained the
Church Handbook in their regular newspaper and on their electronic
edition
prior to our posting. No legal action was taken against the newspaper,"
Barnard said.
And even now, the handbook can be found by typing it into Internet
search engines.

Sandra Tanner said the pages were posted as a public service for
Mormons
and inactive members who have had difficulty learning how to remove
their
names from church membership rolls.

"Unlike other churches, the Mormon Church does not make their
operating
manual readily available to people," she said. "We provided the quotes
from
the Church Handbook due to the many inquiries we have received from
people
seeking information on how to terminate their LDS Church membership.

People
need to be informed that they do not have to be excommunicated, that
they
can write a letter to their bishop and resign."
The Tanners asked to be removed from membership rolls in the 1960s
and
were excommunicated for apostasy, she said.

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